homes, pay rent. The rest have not been paying. The Jewish homes were placed
in receivership in June 1941 and all the residents are obliged to pay rent.
But the Council will pay rent for the poorest (the issue had not been settled
before). The sanitary condition of the Kalisz families was no better than the
sanitary condition of the Kosów families; that is, it was poor. With the passing
of time, due to the strenuous and onerous work of the paramedics, the
level was substantially raised, though the housing conditions deteriorated,
day by day. The Kaliszers and their landlords do not live in harmony. sbMany
of the former think themselves rightful owners of the flats, where they feel
almost completely at home. In certain cases, the Judenrat had to intervene to
prevent the Kosowers from being thrown out of their own flats.sb The newcomers
are from the lowest social strata. They are unable to appreciate the
great good the Kosowers are doing for them. Having forgotten the warm and
friendly welcome they received, they remember only the bad things. They
keep dreaming about returning to Kalisz and they curse [20] the Kosowers.
Unfortunately, in the arguments and quarrels that keep breaking out, it is
the Kosowers who are usually in the right. The Kaliszers in Kosów are an
ungrateful and intolerant element. The local synagogue is a refugee centre.
Initially, all its inhabitants were from Kalisz, now there are many other refugees
from other towns. The Kaliszers are 70 souls, which amounts to some
15 families. All of the synagogue residents provide for themselves, but most
of them would not be able to get by without the help from the Department of
Social Welfare and Sanitary Supervision. It should be stressed that the Kalisz
Jews who live in the synagogue, do not argue among themselves. On the contrary,
they constitute one, unified front in the conflict with the refugees from
other towns, with whom they cannot come to terms.
The Kalisz Jews arrived in Kosów with a transport of the resettled and
they are all registered in the Jewish Community. In February 1941 they
received temporary residence cards (and so did the native inhabitants of
Kosów Lacki). Hence their legal status is completely regulated.
sbGenerally speaking, the Kaliszers have fully acclimatised and there is
little difference between the Kosowers and the Kaliszers. The latter know the
vicinity of Kosów like the back of their hand, they are friends with the rural
population, and they know how to use it when in need (during the bombing
on 22 June 1941). They act as if they had been born and raised here. They
regard themselves entitled or, should I say, privileged (they are poor refugees,
